The Majestic Hotel in Melaka

When we were deciding on the accomodation for the trip, I half-jokingly suggested Fenix Inn which was a budget inn that had received decent reviews. Well, from the title and pic below, it would be easy to guess that I have risen from Fenix/Phoenix to something quite Majestic. Jokes aside, we were intending to get rooms at Hotel Equatorial but the hotel was fully booked. And since it was our first department trip together out of the country, we decided to treat ourselves a little better and get rooms at the Majestic Hotel. My GPS had a Majestic Hotel but it turned out to be the wrong address and we only found the carpark of the hotel (located at the back of the hotel and without any shade at all!) by keying in the address on the Agoda Voucher. The pic below shows the lobby of the hotel with the little library green area on the left side. There is also a mini bar area at the lobby of the hotel which is open till midnight daily. The only thing about the hotel that wasn't impressive was the swimming pool - this is the only other pool I've seen that is as small as my place's pool. If one has kids who like swimming, The Equatorial Hotel's swimming pool is by far much much larger. On the Majestic's swimming pool's right is the gym. On the other hand, the spa at the hotel is, according to the magazines left in the hotel room at least, a world-renowned spa. An hour's massage cost about RM200 and after a long drive up, feels very good...(according to my boss at least). I've never liked massages (paying for pain) so I gave the spa a miss. The pic below is of the room's toilet which was the first thing I saw when I opened the door to my hotel room - the bathtub is rather sturdy I must say and there is a rain shower at the shower area. Basic toiletries were provided (and even bath salts) but strangely not toothbrushes. The pic below shows the room which I had all to myself at The Majestic. As I said, 2 of my colleagues changed their minds about going at the last min and therefore, I ended up with a room with twin beds. I asked the hotel if I could have a room with a double bed like my other 3 colleagues but the hotel was fully booked for the weekend. In any case, I thought that the room was pretty impressive and comparable to the ones I'd stayed at in Shangrila, Hyatt, The Peninsular etc and even my boss who has stayed at finer places considered this hotel a truely five star hotel. The hotel promised that all the rooms had a river view and indeed, although mine was a corner room, I had a clear view of the Melaka River where the Melaka River cruises are. Each room also comes with free internet connection (but not WIFI) and a writing desk with a letter addressed to the occupant of the room. The pic below shows the room from another angle - I love the open concept toilet and am inspired to design my own house this way...except that I don't think wood and water agree much. Still, the room is impressive and comfortable in its own right - well worth the SGD 240 When we got back to the hotel room after dinner and shopping, I was pleasantly surprised to find a plate of complimentary kueh on the table :) There was also a bottle of complimentary mineral water (taken out from the minibar) and placed on the bedside table. The Slog Reviews: 9.5/10. Except for the size of the swimming pool, I would strongly recommend this hotel to anyone going to Melaka. The service by the staff is beyond outstanding and the rooms are luxurious and beautiful. The cost of a taxi ride to Jonker St is RM15 so one is better off driving there onself but the hotel can call for a taxi if you request. I think my boss is right - it will be most difficult to stay in any other hotel but this hotel if we ever go to Melaka again. :)

Ole Sayang Restaurant at Melaka - Nyonya Food Heaven

The Melaka trip with my department over the weekend was definitely one of the most enjoyable trips ever. We had planned to get a driver and MPV for the 6 of us but at the last min, 2 of us couldn't make it so I offered to drive 4 of us up. My boss took at leap of faith (in me, my driving skills and the humble vios) and by 9am, filled up with good beehoon from a coffeeshop in SG, we took the first link into JB.

I'd never driven to Melaka through the first link before and relied heavily on my GPS to get us on the highway. Traffic was really heavy (no surprise given tt it is the school hols) and we reached Melaka by 12.30pm after clearing the Msia customs at 10.30pm. With my boss in the front seat, I did not dare to exceed 140-150km/hr at any time. There was quite a queue getting into Melaka after the toll area and it was 1.30pm by the time we got to the first restaurant on the list (This was meant to be an indulgent trip filled with nothing but the best hotel and great food) - Ole Sayang.

Now, Ole Sayang was ranked No 7 on TripAdvisor's list of restaurants in Melaka and I was worried about choosing this as our first stop in Melaka because it serves Nyonya food and my boss had, the night before, expressed her desire for laksa and chendol. So it was with great apprehension that I parked my car at the first available slot opposite the restaurant (which is on the left of the road). My heart pounded even faster when we drew close because the door of the restaurant was firmly shut (see pic below) and I almost freaked that the place was closed despite my research.

But thankfully, no, the doors yielded to my desperate grasp and we entered, without reservations, into the blessed airconditioned interior. The pic below shows how the restaurant looks like and the place is rather big with more tables behind the wall on the right - during our meal, about 2 tour buses worth of tourists flocked into the place. We sat at the table near the door which was too big for 4 of us but they wouldn't let us have the smaller table which they said was reserved.
They also took some time to get us the menu and impatient me got up to get the menus myself. That got one of the more senior servers, a Chinese aunty bustling over to our table to take our order quickly. :D
I don't know if the keropok (crackers) below were complimentary because I don't have a copy of the bill. However, they were placed on the table by the servers and hungry us fell upon them so the pic below shows just the few that were left before I remembered to take a picture. Now, these crackers are so light that the wind from the fan on the wall could actually blow them off the plate - and, the table behind us filled with fellow Singaporeans ordered 2 big packets of the crackers to take home!
The picture below shows all the food that 4 of us had for our first meal in Melaka at Ole Sayang - a picture perfect start to our Melaka food trail. For an instant, we thought we had gone overboard ordering because we were so hungry by the time we arrived at the restaurant (almost 2pm when the food came) but from the very last pic of this entry, we were wrong - we ate everything and it was SO GOOD. We were also very pleased that the food did not take too long (max 15mins) to arrive and that all the dishes came together instead of being served slowly one by one. The restaurant forgot to serve us rice though and I had to go ask for the basket.
Anyway, the dishes. The dish below was the first one put on the table (After the crackers). The Slog Reviews: 10/10. We had read that the sambal ikan bilis was a "must-order" and my boss with her more refined taste-buds proclaimed that this dish was good enough to eat alone with plain white rice. Because I was snapping photos, I didn't taste it till later but when I did - it was like - O.M.Goodness. Heavenly! Now, don't let anyone stop you from trying this dish if you are at the restaurant - perfectly spicy and smooth belachan paste on top of lightly crunchy ikanbilis.

My 2 other colleagues wanted an egg dish and I'm not sure what they ordered - I only took the pic. And worse, I can't even comment on this dish because I didn't have a chance to try it at all. I should have, on retrospect, it wasn't like they devoured it at one go but the egg disappeared so fast and I was busy swooning over the other dishes. Therefore, I suppose the egg must be excellent too.

My boss wanted some beef so we had black pepper beef. The Slog Reviews: 9/10. This dish was rather oily and the meat was tough and far from tender. However, the reason for the high score is that the spice which the beef is cooked in, something light yet distinctive and unfortunately, not available in Singapore to the best of my knowledge.

We also got the ayam rendang which was a recommended dish by some bloggers. The Slog Reviews: 10/10. The gravy had us all drooling and swooning! While the meat was nothing very remarkable, the gravy of which there was plenty, was mouth-wateringly delicious. It wasn't spicy enough to prevent those who aren't into spicy food from eating it - I think it was because of the amoutn of coconut/coconut milk that went into this dish. Order if not for anything, the gravy - now I could eat that alone with plain rice for a meal! :D

And the Udang Masak Nenas - this was a recommended dish and my boss was hesitant about ordering this dish because we already had 2 meat dishes but after she had taken a spoonful of the gravy, she was nodding away in gastronomical pleasure. The Slog Reviews: 10/10. Must Order! Again, the prawns are not extremely big or sweet or very very fresh...or even cooked very well but the gravy, it was absolutely heavenly. Rich, absolutely rich enough to render send my tastebuds straight to heaven.

I'm not sure why we ordered this dish - I think my boss mentioned she wanted something instead of sambal kangkong and chap chye is a nyonya dish. Probably the server had recommended the same. The Slog Reviews: 8/10. Very good chap chye with the veg cooked to soft perfection. Gravy wasn't too sweet or salty. However, not a must-order but beats the usual sambal kangkong dishes which are a dime a dozen.

To my surprise, we had sambal kangkong served to us too. Which made me wonder if I had heard wrongly and my boss wanted sambal kangkong. The Slog Reviews: 8.5/10. Lots of stems, not too spicy or oily, definitely a different style of cooking this dish as compared to other restaurants in JB that I've been to. Ate every last bit of the dish.

And who says 4 of us couldn't finish everything - the pic below says it all - all the empty dishes (notice how the gravy has been scrapped up too) are testimony to the wonderful start of our food trip. I didn't take the photos of the chendol dessert my boss and another colleague ordered but my boss proclaimed the chendol smashing too, even better than the chendol at Jonker88 so maybe that might be worth a try too.

The total cost of the meal for 4 of us was about RM104.

I am now officially a fan of Ole Sayang. :)

As always, the restaurant's details:

198-199, Taman Malaka Raya
Phone: (606)2831966, (606)2834384
Opening hours: Lunch 11:30am-2:30pm Dinner 6:00pm-9:30pm, Closed on Wednesday

Off to Melaka

I'm driving to Melaka later today for the weekend - this is the pic that, IMHO best represents the city. I took this pic from my car but as I am the sole driver this time, I doubt I would have the opportunity to take a similar pic this trip. And in my car, will be my boss and 2 colleagues . That scares me more than anything else - to be responsible for the life and safety of someone that is so important to me. Of course, I wouldn't drive at the speed I drove at the last time I went to Melaka - safety first this time and not wild reckless happy abandon :D And this time it's going to be a trip focused on food, and not historical attractions like St Peter's church at Melaka which was 1 of the places I had visited the last time per the pic below. It is possible though that we may end up visiting the famous "red buildings" once again given how almost all tourists end up there. But what is certain is that we won't have a chance to go on the "Eye on Melaka" ferris wheel which was there in Nov 08 (which was when I went there and took the pic below from a bridge). It is quite a pity because the view from the ferris wheel was rather paranomic and I would really have liked to show my travel companions this time, the view of Melaka from the top. Well, at least I'll be able to bring them for the famous Ho Kee chicken rice balls and assam fish head that I had the last time. And I also made reservations at that famous teochew seafood restaurant - nothing but the best effort on my part to make this a successful trip. My travel companions are likewise determined to make this trip a fun and good one and I'm sure I'll have plenty to write about when I'm back but I do say I'm praying really hard that everything will be smooth because so much rides on me this time. I have been responsible for the lifes of others before when I drive the 5 hours up the winding one-lane roads which are barely, if at all lit, to and fro Rompin, Pekan etc, but never have I been so stressed about a road trip before.

I want it to go perfect, not because I'm afraid that I'll be thought of less if the trip went badly but because that's the way things should be if you feel for someone enough that her/his happiness is the thing that matters most. Wish me all the best! :)

The Ghost Writer (2010) Movie

We missed the earlier timing for the movie and ended up catching the 9.20pm show. On a weekday, watching a movie this late after a long day at work turned out to be a pretty bad idea because I couldn't stop yawning and coughing throughout what has been a pretty well-received movie.

The Slog Reviews: 8/10. A CIA-spy thriller movie set in the UK. Plot is simple - a ghostwriter (the Ghost) is chosen (after a convincing speech to the editors how the biography has to be about "heart") to complete the memoirs of a former UK Prime Minister, Adam Lang after the previous ghostwriter is found drowned. The Ghost is flown to the island where Adam and his wife, Ruth Lang stays. During that time, there is talk that Adam will be tried in the International Court of Justice for war crimes for his role in handing over certain terrorist (suspects) to CIA to be tortured. There are also protestors camped outside Adam's gated complex. Anyway, Adam decides to fly to Washington against the advice of Ruth, where he is greeted warmly by the secretary of state and where he will be safe from prosecution. In the meantime, the Ghost discovers in the room of the former ghostwriter, a telephone number and some photos of Adam's school days in cambridge. He also decides to check out the beach where the previous ghostwriter was found washed up and is told by locals that the current couldn't have been strong enough to wash up the body and that the woman who saw flashlights on the beach on the day of the drowning is now in a coma. Ruth goes to look for him and they have dinner where she tells him that Adam used to listen to her but now rarely and in turn he tells her his suspicions. She goes out for a walk in the rain and looks for him in the night when she is all dripping wet. He goes to the bathroom to get her a towel and finds her naked in his bed. In the morning, the Ghost packs his things to leave as he is horrified that he has slept with a client's wife. He gets in the car that the housekeeper told him once before was used by the previous ghostwriter and drives to the hotel. However the built in GPS system keeps pointing him in another direction and he decides to follow the GPS. It takes him to the main island and to the house of a Profesor Paul Emmett, whom he identifies as one of the people in Adam's photos. Paul agrees to meet him and denies any association with Adam. When shown the photographs, he says that that summer was a blur and too long ago. When The Ghost leaves, a black car follows him all the way to the ferry. The Ghost flees his car and stays in a hotel on the main island. He calls the number on the previous ghostwriter's effects and is met by a former minister whom Adam Lang sacked. Adam also calls him to say he is flying back and wants to meet The Ghost. On board Adam's private jet, The Ghost confronts Adam with his suspicions that Paul had recruited Adam to work for the CIA. Adam laughs and the denies it all angrily - saying that every political decision he had made was done on his own. When they get off the plane on the tarmac, Adam tells The Ghost they need to have a meeting later and right after that, is shot and crumples to the ground. The shooter is one of the protestors whose son was killed in Iraq and the shooter gets gunned down by Adam's men. The Ghost is taken in for questioning as a witness reported Adam shouting at The Ghost on the jet. It is later revealed that Adam died and the Ghost completes the memoirs which goes to print. At the book launch where he meets with one of Adam's previous assistants, Amelia, she says something about beginnings which triggers The Ghost to take the original manuscript written by the previous ghost writer and go through the first page of each chapter. He underlines the first word of each page and discovers that Ruth Lang is a CIA agent who was recruited by Paul Emmett. The Ghost passes a note to Ruth revealing that he knows the truth and on his way out of the book launch, is run down by a car.

Roadtrip to Yong Peng and Muar

We had intended to go Yong Peng for durians over the weekend and assumed from our past experience driving past the town that accomodation wouldn't be an issue. However, this road trip turned out quite differently from what we had intended.

Firstly, instead of leaving SG early, for some reason, we ended up leaving SG late about 8pm on a Fri night which meant taking the second link or being stuck in the massive jam at Woodlands. We opted for the second link option which was considerably more expensive, stricter on fuel checks on the SG customs side, far stricter on the car check on the Msia side (8 out of 10 cars were stopped and searched) but considerably less crowded. Because of some errands on the other end of JB, we only reached Yong Peng at 9.45pm.

Secondly, we were both tired, grouchy and hungry but because of the lack of number of hotels that looked habitable, accomodation became an issue that had to be settled before dinner. In the end, after cruising up and down the main street, we decided to have a go at one of the shophouses which had the word "Hotel" and a brightly-lit, non-deserted restaurant on the ground level. While my travel companion went up the long flight of narrow dimly lit stairs to the "lobby" of the hotel, I went ahead to the restaurant's restroom and to order the food. The moment I was out of the restroom, he joined me at the restaurant area with a grim look on his face and shaking his head. No surprise - from the state of the restaurant's restroom, I had guessed the standard of the hotel.

Anyway, food. The menu was in Chinese only which meant that I had a limited idea of the dishes and my travel companion decided most of the dishes except for the one below which I thought was unique and insisted on having because I thought we wouldn't be going all the way up to Muar - Muar Otak on a hotplate. As it turned out, this dish served with egg on a hotplate was pretty good. The Slog Reviews: 8/10 if you are an otah and egg lover. I've never had otah on a hotplate before so this dish was quiet a novelty and everyone knows that otah is best served hot so that the spicy flavor of the dish can be brought out.

My travel companion also ordered sambal kangkong, the restaurant's speciality chicken and a bowl of foochow fish maw soup. While the chicken never turned up (the restaurant claimed that we had cancelled it when in fact we hadn't), and the kangkong was ordinary, the foochow soup (see pic below) proved to be quite a disappointment, esp to my travel companion. The gravy was too thick and sweet and the fish maw pretty tasteless unlike the kind of soup which it is supposed to be (at least to be travel companion who had years of eating such soup). The Slog Reviews: 6.5/10. We both were surprised to learn that this was the second most popular restaurant in Yong Peng according to the locals there. Maybe we hadn't ordered the right dishes but I'm not going back there again without any recommendations at all.

From the pic below, if you know me or have been following this blog, you probably can guess what happened to our planned stay at Yong Peng - we ended up in Muar eventually at midnight! The hotel above the restaurant ("Soon Kee") had suggested another hotel to us which they said was the best hotel in Yong Peng and we got there, all the rooms were full except 1 family room which they quoted us RM80 for. I took a look at the room, the dirty grubby bedding, low ugly beds, lack of an ensuite and said no, very firmly. My travel companion had driven almost 2 hours on the highway to Yong Peng and was tired but even he had to agree that we were better off heading for our usual hotel at Muar - Streetview Hotel. The hotel is just behind/around the corner from Townview Hotel and is considerably cleaner and newer. The cost is also reasonable at RM80 and we figured that we would rather spend Rm80 there than the "best" hotel in Yong Peng. I took over the wheel and drove the one hour to Muar where we managed to get rooms at the hotel fortunately.

The next morning (a Sat), we woke up rather early and by 11am, were seated at my favourite restaurant - Shee Yan Restaurant which I have raved about here and here. The young lady boss wasn't around about 11am but her very friendly mum/mum-in-law was (see pic below) and opened the large fridge for us to choose our dishes.

I took the pic below as it is the first time that I've seen the restaurant this empty! Probably it is the hour (11am) and I was right because by 12 noon, all the tables were filled and the young lady boss was behind the counter on the far right.

Pic of the usual dishes which we had for lunch. The Slog Reviews:10/10. The pic doesn't show ALL the dishes though - we had two packets of the Muar Otah in fact! The old lady boss was also reluctant to sell us two packets when we ordered but we assured her we could finish it.

I think I'm starting to like the fried fish eggs more than the assam fish head - I can't seem to get enough of the fried fish eggs (see close up below) which now rank no.1 with my taste buds. Eating too much is not good for the cholestol levels though but ah, these are sweet & crunchy.

So much for not being able to finish 2 packets of otah! We cleaned every single damn plate. I'm now counting down the days till the next time I patronise this place again - less than 2 weeks! :P

Restoran King Crab (black pepper crabs) (second time)

I like the pic below. :D All the photos I have taken (except photos on holidays) thus far have been with my trusty Sony Ericsson W995 phone and this is one of the few photos that I am extremely pleased with because of the clarity of the image. Clams. Lala, to be specific. Ordered at Restoran King Crab which visited less than a week later because I had recovered slightly and we both wanted to try the black pepper crab there. This dish wasn't my idea but it turned out to be absolutely smashing. The Slog Reviews: 9/10. I would have given the dish a perfect score if not for the many empty shells in the dish! The server had recommended this cooking style which is the restaurant's speciality and the soup turned out wonderfully herbal-tasting and perfect for someone with a cold/cough or a rainy day. The meat was cooked just right and not rubbery tasting the least but sweet and full of flavor. As mentioned before, the cost of dishes at this restaurant is on the steeper side and this cost RM20

We also ordered a beancurd with eggs dish. The Slog Reviews: 7/10. The beancurd came with pcs of mushrooms and some green veg along the sides. Nothing remarkable and the gravy appears to be from a bottle with shrips of dried oyster within.

We made the unforgivable mistake of ordering only one crab (600gm @ RM7/100gm) and it proved to be insufficient for the two of us mad crab lovers. The Slog Reviews: 9/10. Not sure what kind of black pepper paste was used to cook this crab but it didn't leave a fiery burning feeling in the stomach. I'm almost too embarassed to post that I did ask my food companion if I could lick the shell because the sauce (there wasn't much of it sadly) was that good. The crab we had chosen was of course fresh and nothing beats the white meat of a crab cooked together with black pepper sauce. I want more, and soon!

Total cost of the 3 dishes, a pot of jasmine tea for two, rice and towels came to RM 91.50 of which RM 8 consisted of the govt service tax and service charge of 5% each.

The address of this restaurant can be found in my previous entry (click here).

Restoran King Crab (creamy butter crabs)

Even though I had been really sick, I was struck last week by an inexplicable desire to eat crab. Despite the advice from well-meaning friends, I meant to have my way and persuaded a fellow seafood lover to take me for crab. He was low on gas and we both went in to JB for fuel for the car and our bodies.

I'd heard about this restaurant for some time but never had the opportunity of being there before so we decided to look for "Restoran King Crab" based on directions from the web. We found it without any problem at all - turn left right after Jusco, keeping Jusco on the left of the car at times and one can see the bright large yellow signboard of the restaurant easily along the row of shophouses on one's right side.

The restaurant was empty on a weekday night at about 8pm except for one table so service was pretty prompt. It appears that there might be two levels to the place as there was a staircase at one corner of the restaurant but since the place was empty, we had our pick of tables on the ground floor. Service was prompt given the number of wait staff around and the menu rather extensive with meat dishes, various types of seafood (prawns, prawn mantis, crabs, fish), veg and beancurd. However, based on my experience at various JB restaurants, I would say that the prices could be said to be very steep given the lack of ambiance and the type of food (veg dishes are double normal prices!). For example, a small-sized serving of vegetable with eggs which we ordered per the pic below cost RM15. The Slog Reviews: 7/10. Athough the veg was fresh and the dish rather tasty, the price was prohibitively expensive for a very simple dish.

What would be worth ordering IMHO would be what this restaurant is good for, and specialises in - crab. Because I was coughing rather badly, my food companion and I decided to have the crab baked with creamy butter in claypot instead of black pepper. This is how the dish looked like.
And was it good? The Slog Reviews: 9.5/10. Finger licking good! A million, or rather a billion calories in this dish alone given the amount of butter and milk that went into making the thick sweet gravy that the crab was served in. I tried to moderate the amount of gravy that I was slurping up given the lack of exercise the past few weeks ( because I'd been sick) but it was so good that resistence was futile. Crab was fresh of course and priced at RM7/8 kg. The cost of the meal was about RM80 with 5% GST and 5% Service charge. Towels and tea are also chargeable.

Restoran King Crab
No 1 and 1A, 3 and 3A, Jln Harmonium 23/12 Taman Desa Tebrau
81100 Johor Bahru
Tel: 607 3513333

Tokumika Japanese Restaurant

My food companion was in the mood for Japanese food just before my fishing trip and since the rendevous point was at Serangoon Central, we decided to have dinner at that area. At my suggestion, although I wasn't sure if there were any Jap restaurants there, we ended up at the row of eateries at the shophouses along Upper Serangoon Road.

And, to his delight, there was a Jap restaurant named Tokumika amongst the steamboat restaurants. The restaurant was smallish and functionally decorated with about 10 wooden tables and chairs, a large transparent food chiller housing various types of sashimi towards the back and a unisex 1 cubicle toilet at the far end of the restaurant. It also appears to be local family-run (as opposed to Jap-family run) and boasts having fresh air-flown sashimi.

As I don't eat sashimi and we were rather short of time, I ordered the beef sukiyaki (SGD 12) and my food companion ordered the bara chirashi don (SGD 10). The prices on the menu were rather reasonable starting from SGD 10 onwards and a plate of sashimi sufficient for 2 smallish eaters was SGD 25. The restaurant also serves various types of Jap noodles like ramen, udon and soba as well as rice sets but the emphasis is on sashimi.

The Slog Reviews: 7/10 for the beef sukiyaki. Nothing wrong with the presentation of the food or the time we had to wait for the dish, but I found the soup too sweet for my liking and the beef while generous in portion, was not tender or sweet. The beef pieces were also kind of stuck together in an unappealing mess. My food companion on the other hand pronounced the chirashi don fabulous with generous chunks of fresh sashimi and after finishing his bowl (not a very large or remarkably small bowl), proceeded to order yet another chirashi don bowl. He said it was very good and I suppose there must be some truth to his statement because to my amazement, the restaurant filled up pretty quickly (it was a Fri evening) with couples, families and groups of friends/colleagues. The service was prompt enough and while I wouldn't think of going back again, my food companion has been bugging me to. The cost of the meal was SGD 38 in all excluding any drinks (the rice for the sukiyaki was SGD 2!) but then again, he had eaten enough for two pax.


Address: 27 Teck Chye Terrace
Tel/Fax: 6284 3842

NB: This restaurant has been closed since end Aug 2010

Sex and the City 2 (2010) movie

The Slog Reviews: 4/10. A "should not waste time watching in the theatre"movie. Unless one is out with one's girlies/gaylies or one is really into designer clothes and fashion (esp shoes!). I'd quite liked the first movie so I suggested watching this movie with my movie kaki. I'm not sure what the deal is with SJP - I've read someone's blog describing her as dead ugly and while she doesn't hurt my eyes, I have to agree that there are better looking actresses who can pull off the Carrie Bradshaw character too. Mr Big on the other hand, becomes more charming and sexier 2 years later in this movie, just the man that I for one, wouldn't mind rushing home to every single night - even if, as in the movie, he wants to eat just take-out night after night and to lounge around in bed. Samantha is my favourite character in this movie - "I am woman, hear me roar". In this movie, happily single, toned and attractive, she is obsessed with regulating her hormones and reversing the ageing process through chemical means. She also gets the 4 gal pals flown to the Middle East in style (first class cabins, a limo each and the jade suite that costs 22K/night at a fab hotel) when a wealthy Arab meets her at an event and wants her to promote his country. Charlotte on the other hand, is the character that I thought I wanted to be when I was younger - the fairy-tale happily ever after marriage with a doting loving man and 2 adorable children. Miranda is the character that I am most uncomfortable with - some part of me identifies too strongly with her - and her quitting her job in this movie when faced with a tyrant of a boss made her character more appealing for being able not to take bullshit when it is dished out.

Although the movie makes an attempt to explore the challenges of married life and close bonds of gal relationships, has its fun moments and gives one a peak at the lifes of the truely rich and famous, as mentioned earlier, this movie can be watched on DVD instead of the big screen and one isn't missing much when waiting for the DVD to be out.

The best part of this movie, IMHO is this part - "I am woman, hear me roar, in numbers too big to ignore. And I know too much to go back and pretend. Because I have heard it all before, and have been down there all the floor. And no one is ever going to keep me down again...oh yes, I am wise..yes I have paid the price but look at how much I have gained...if I have to, I can do anything. I am strong. I am invincible, I am woman..."

Restoran / restaurant Pekin at Sutera Mall

My sis and I once had a discussion whether it was right to critique a restaurant based on just one dining experience and whether a review of the place based on certain items from the menu was equitable. We had to agree to disagree in the end as the arguments/reasons for both sides were equally compelling (I took the view that it was equitable, if you must know.)

My third visit to Restoran Pekin at Sutera Mall (the last being Mothers' Day) impressed me enough to conclude that the standard of food and service at this place is consistently good. This time, we went there for dinner because I wanted to introduce my herbal-prawns-loving companion to the fabulous dish there. Quick, attentive and polite service by the servers upon entry into the restaurant and unlike previous occasions, a complimentary plate of guava was served as an appetiser.


I was rather in the mood for something "porky" and ordered a most sinfully fattening dish - a medium-sized plate of roast pork. The Slog Reviews: 8/10. Tough and crisp fried skin atop soft squishy fat combined with soft tender meat makes a most delicious morsel in one's mouth. However, too much of this dish can get a little overwhelming because of the sheer amt of oil that oozes out from the fatty portions.

And of course, we had the herbal prawns (which was the purpose of our going there). Now, if you are wondering why there is more soup than the previous time (the soup came up to half the height of the bowl the last time), it is because I requested for more soup when placing the order. And that's what I mean by excellent service by this restaurant - I've been to horrendously more expensive restaurants, made special requests when placing an order and had to send back the dish to the kitchen because these requests were not communicated to the kitchen. The Slog Reviews: 9/10. My companion agreed heartily with words and action that these were the best herbal prawns he'd ever had. I think that we should order a medium/large portion next time!

Picture below shows the 3 dishes we had. The last dish was the 3 eggs dish which was as good as ever. Cost was about RM 80 in all which translates to SGD 32 only. Not a bad deal really given the ambiance, service and quality of food. To prevent the law of diminishing returns from setting in, I have resolved not to go to this restaurant for the next 2 months at least! :D

Oh, and I forgot to mention, we were given a bowl of complimentary dessert each. I'm not sure what it was because I didn't dare to try it - it looked and smelled "Chinese-herbal" so my companion wolfed it down along with his own bowl in a jiffy. I don't suppose I'm going to lose much weight given the way we both enjoy food so much unless I up the number of gym sessions a week or continue with this rather nasty cold.

Restaurant Aoba Hokkaido Ramen

Despite the short time I had to finish my quest for THE purple dress (click here), my companion was determined to have dinner all the same. Torn between my pressing need to continue shopping (I'd just finished shopping at Tangs at 7pm without success) and the motto that a hungry man is an angry man, I quickly concluded that it would be no fun shopping with an angry man and it would be better for both of us to have his needs met before mine.

So, the moment we got to Ion, we headed straight for the eateries. He was hungry enough to suggest Burger King (which told me he was downright starving) but I wasn't in the mood for beef and there wasn't a queue at Aoba Hokkaido Ramen. All the tables were taken so we had to wait a couple of minutes before being shown to a table. Service was prompt enough with the menus put in our hands within minutes of us sitting down. The list of items available was delightfully short and simple with fairly accurate pictures of the food.

I ordered the Shio Scallop Ramen at SGD 12.80++ (see pic below) which came within 10mins from the time I placed the order. The Slog Reviews: 6/10. My companion who tried some of the soup said that it was tasteless and that the noodles were like maggi mee. I could not agree more. It wasn't worth the money, I'm afraid. Give me my beloved collagen ramen anytime! If we go back there (which I'm sure we will, if you read on), I'll probably order something else.

While eating, we noticed the table next to us had ordered a cheesy dish which looked rather appetising and my companion was minded to try the same. This, despite my glancing at my watch pointedly and that we had almost finished our noodles. We ended up waiting almost 15mins for the dish to come, by which time, we had asked the kitchen twice to hurry and my patience-o-meter was pointing to the red zone. When the cheesy tofu finally came, we agreed it was worth the wait. The Slog Reviews: 9/10. I never knew that melting warm cheese over piping hot toufu could be such a delish combination. 2 mins after it was served, we both found ourselves scrapping the bottom of the hotplate for more. Do try this dish if you are there. I can't remember the price but it should be less than SGD 10.

I'm not sure if this restaurant takes reservations but here are the contact detrails:

Aoba@ION Orchard
2 Orchard Turn #B3-25
ION Orchard Singapore
Tel: 6509 9394

There are 2 other outlets. the first at Vivo City located at #01-104/105 Tel No: 6376 9519 and the second at Manpuku Japanese Gourmet Town, 10 Tampines Central #03-16 Tel: 6789 6810